


Meeting Again

by spacedaydreamer



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Fandom, Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - Fandom
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Just a cute little drabble, Quark uses the transporter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 01:40:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9050071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedaydreamer/pseuds/spacedaydreamer
Summary: Quark using the transporters to go to the ZTD timeline, just a quick happy mini





	

Junpei glanced around the area, doing his best to look relatively indifferent to the circumstances. It was true- this was probably the best possible ending, and he was going to spend longer thinking on that, when he noticed something- or rather, some _one_ that he was pretty sure shouldn’t be there. A little kid had just wandered out of the shelter they’d all just been trapped in. He looked like he was probably no more than ten, with blond hair, brown eyes, and a very odd hat… and after a moment’s eye contact, the kid ran up to him, and gave him a gigantic hug.

“Grandpa!”

Junpei could only blink in confusion, momentarily stuck in place, while everyone else present turned to look. (Was that Sigma snickering in the background? Real rich coming from _you_ , old man.) However, the kid seemed undisturbed by the circumstances, released the hug, and looked up at Junpei with bright, excited eyes.

“So Mr. Sigma really was right! I never thought that thing would actually work…”

The child had crossed his arms, apparently quite deep in thought, and Junpei shot a look at Sigma- who only gave a shrug and a smirk that said he knew exactly what was going on but wasn’t planning on telling Junpei. Finally, Junpei couldn’t take it anymore.

“Uh, sorry kid, but… who are you?”

The child blinked, before realization hit him. “Oh, that’s right! My name’s Quark- we lived together on a different timeline.”

While that still didn’t do much to help his very obvious confusion, it at least cleared up why Quark had called him grandpa- but how old must Junpei have been on that timeline for the kid to call him that? Jeez! Eventually, it was Akane who spoke up to clear things out.

“Junpei, you remember the timeline where Radical-6 escapes, right? After many years, you eventually met and adopted Quark, and roughly ten years after that you both arrive at Rhizome-9 to play a nonary game.”

A hint of a frown made its way onto Junpei’s face at Akane’s description. He had his memories from that timeline back, just like everyone else, but it was quite possibly his least favourite of all the ones he’d had to endure. He’d have to try harder later to see if he could remember things from further down the line, but the thought of this little kid having to live in a world like that… Junpei didn’t like it at all.

“So, why exactly did you come back here, then?”

“It was grandpa’s- er, your idea. Once Mr. Sigma told us about the transporter, you said that you wanted me to have a chance to see the world before Radical-6 got out. So Mr. Sigma helped us send me here! I had to hide for a while because there were some people who were moving things, but once they were all gone I just got up and left.”

Quark looked proud of himself for his daring escape, and Junpei couldn’t help but give the kid a pat on the head and a smile. He didn’t really have the memories of that point from the other timeline, and yet he already felt that Quark was incredibly familiar. Those memories would probably come with time, if he really tried, but for now he’d just have to stick with figuring out what to do next.

“Well, considering you’re going to need a place to live, do you mind if you have to stick with me for a bit longer? My place isn’t that big, but it’s livable.”

Quark gave a vigorous nod, and Akane laughed softly from behind him.

“Junpei, if you need space, you can always come move with me to the Crash Keys HQ. We’re all going to be working together for a while now anyways, aren’t we?”

Junpei blushed, looking to the side as quickly as possible to hide it from view of anyone looking (but when you’re in the middle of a desert, that’s unfortunately hard to do).

“Oh, um, right. I guess you’re already getting a housing upgrade then, Quark.”

That was quite possibly for the best- the longer he thought about it, the more he was pretty sure that his little apartment wasn’t child-safe at all. Or clean. Maybe he should be more worried about how not-clean it was.  
________________________________________________________________

Conversation continued on for a while, eventually devolving into random small talk. Sean and Quark seemed to hit it off instantly, talking about all sorts of things, and Phi and Akane had explained a few more things to Junpei about the radical-6 timeline, clearing up more of his lingering confusion. Things were overall fairly calm, despite being stranded in the center of a desert, when he heard the sound of a horn honking.

Looking up, Junpei saw two incredibly familiar faces- Aoi, driving a minivan, and Light, in the passenger’s seat. They explained that they’d used Crash Key’s resources to set up a perimeter around the area and had intercepted Free the Soul’s escape. Then it had only been a matter of using satellite imaging to find the shelter, getting a minivan large enough for everyone to drive back in. It would be tight, yeah, but it was at least better than being squished between Seven and Light in a car.

The drive back was lighthearted- Quark only asked once why there was an old man tied up in the back, but after explaining that he was Brother, Quark didn’t seem to mind much anymore. Delta was a much nicer passenger than Hongou had been, far less noisy- although that could have been due to the large amounts of soporil Diana had been kind enough to administer.

Their arrival back at civilization was confusing and hurried, many quick goodbyes in succession while everyone split up their separate ways. Eric and Mira were taking Sean with them, who was happy to oblige, Carlos had to go back to find Maria and help her get her esper abilities under control, and Diana had things to get sorted out back home; which meant Phi and Sigma were going with her to help. They’d all be meeting up again soon enough- they had a terrorist to catch, after all, and although Junpei wasn’t quite ready admit it out loud, he was quite happy about it. He was especially looking forwards to spending more time with Akane and Carlos- they both meant a lot to him by now.

However, for now, the only people left were Junpei, Aoi, Light, Akane, and Quark, who were all heading back to Crash Keys HQ. Light was going to wake up Clover and Alice, and the rest of them wanted simply to go home and rest.

Junpei had found himself watching Quark most of the drive, both amused and saddened by the kid’s fascination at everything going by. The world he’d grown up in had been completely devastated, but this one was still new and shiny… Junpei found himself more determined than ever that he’d be sure to protect this timeline. The plane ride had been pretty fun too- Quark had explained that he’d taken a space shuttle in his timeline, but nobody really flew planes anymore. The experience was pretty novel to the kid, and eventually the excitement had caught up to him and he fell asleep in his seat.

Junpei ended up carrying Quark inside their new little apartment; two rooms with a living room/kitchen and a bathroom. It wasn’t much, but it was still a million times nicer and newer than where he’d lived last, so it was quite an upgrade. He laid him down on a bed in one of the rooms, taking off his hat and tucking him into the covers, about to leave the kid to get some sleep himself, when he felt a hand grabbing onto his shirt.

“mnnn…. g’night, grandpa…”

Junpei smiled to himself, patting Quark’s back.

“Goodnight, Quark.”


End file.
